College of Engineering

Dept. of Architectural Engineering

Environment and Sustainable Architecture

Lecture 5

Riman Mohammed Said Bashir

 Thermal Comfort

• Thermal comfort is the condition of mind that expresses

satisfaction with the thermal environment and is assessed by
subjective evaluation.

• First researches come to exist when American scholars think to

improve the environment around to avoid hazard on human being
life, improve air quality and increase productivity.

• Povl Ole Fanger (1934–2006), Fanger focused on the relationship

between the physical parameters of an environment and the
physiological parameters of people.
• The human thermal cannot be reached by specific temperature
degrees nor can be accessible by a specific condition, it is
personal experience dependent on some criteria and can be
different from one to another.

• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggest that an

environment can be said to achieve 'reasonable comfort' when at
least 80% of its occupants are thermally comfortable.

• This was the reason of creation a new field in science called

“Thermal Comfort”. So, thermal comfort models should be able
to best help the architects and other building engineers in design
process.
• Both indoor and outdoor climate should be taken into
consideration not only in urban design but also in buildings.

• Climate have big effect on building design, thus, respecting the

nature has deep roots in culture, coordination of human being,
architecture and nature is completely obvious in the traditional
architecture.

• Designer should be able to fully understand the climate and

comfort needs as well as all architectural main issues related
to the project.
• According to information the monthly or daily comfort zone
should be defined and then some clear design advices could be
derived from previous studies.

• Give directions for each issue in building such as site design,

form, ventilation, solar gains, window sizing, thermal mass,
passive heating and cooling, materials and etc.

• Thermal comfort was defined as the temperature at which the

person feels thermally neutral "comfortable".
There are six factors that can be divided to:

• Environmental factors such as:

✓Air temperature,
✓Air velocity,
✓Radiant temperature,
✓Humidity.

• Personal factors such as:

✓ Clothing insulation
✓ Metabolic heat.
Thermal Comfort Conditions and Energy Consumption

• Almost half of the energy used in our society is consumed by the

building sector, the design, construction, operation and
demolition of our built environment.

• Much of that energy is used to cool and/or heat buildings. Air

conditioning accounts for 44% of a building’s energy
consumption.

• Designers can help reduce the energy consumption patterns of a

building by improving air conditioning systems.
Historical Perspective

• Prior to the development of mechanical air conditioning

systems, societies used natural heating and cooling methods
such as shading, thermal mass, and natural ventilation to
achieve thermal comfort.

• The ancient Babylonians used evaporative cooling to condition

their dwellings as far back as 2,000 BC. Individuals would
spray water onto exposed surfaces at night; the combined
evaporation and drop in night time temperatures provided a
simple and effective method to get relief from the heat.
• Air cooling can be traced back in China, and the time of Ding
Huan. Huan invented a hand-cranked rotary fan that produced a
breeze.
• The Mediterranean empire created many ingenious inventions
that made life easier: the aqueduct was one of the most
famous. Aqueducts were used to pump water to various parts
of the city, and even to individual homes.

• 1758: Benjamin Franklin and his colleague John Hadley,

professor at Cambridge University, gave a presentation on
their investigation of the effects of evaporative cooling. They
stated that evaporating inconstant liquids (such as alcohol)on
the surface of water can cool an object to freezing.
• 1830s: Dr. John Gorrie, an American physician, began work
on the first mechanical cooling apparatus ever recorded. It
blew air through a cloth doused in ice-cold water. Though
large and bulky, and requiring an unearthly amount of ice
water to work, it had the power to cool a room by as much as
20 degrees.

• 1851: Dr. Gorrie patented his ice-cooling invention, which by

this time was used specifically in hospital rooms. It was
revolutionary in creating a healthier environment for treating
yellow fever and other ailments.
• Ancient Indians would hang wet straw mats on the windward
side of their homes to achieve a cooler indoor temperature.
• Society moved away from these methods when mechanical
cooling became available in the early 1900s. In 1902, the
first mechanical cooling system was built.

• The first successful air-conditioning system were invented

by Willis Haviland Carrier.

• By 1947, the window air conditioning unit was being mass

produced and after World War II mechanical systems
flourished with the large-scale and rapid development of
homes.